Riding lawn mowers, riding snow blowers, riding lawn tractors, and other small vehicles often operate on ground surfaces such as grass or turf that are uneven. For example, uneven terrain may include side slopes, hills, bumps, and so on in a person's yard. To accommodate these features, some riding lawn mowers are adapted to keep the wheels in contact with the ground while travelling over uneven terrain. For example, some riding lawn mowers may include suspension systems that allow the wheels to move up or down in response to travel over uneven ground.
Riding lawn mowers also include steering systems for controlling vehicle movement. These systems may operate a set of steerable wheels, for example, the front wheels, rear wheels, or both the front and rear wheels. These steering systems generally include a steering wheel that allows an operator to turn the steering wheel and steer the riding lawn mower by pivoting the steerable wheels.
One difficulty with mechanically connecting the steering wheel to the steerable wheels is that the steering system might interfere with the ability of the riding lawn mower to travel over uneven terrain. For example, as the riding lawn mower travels over uneven terrain, the suspension system may pivot the steerable wheels, and thus lead to unintentional turns, wheel skidding, and other dynamic steering errors. Unintentional turning of the wheels can impede an operator's control over the vehicle. Furthermore, wheel skidding is undesirable for riding lawn mowers because it can scuff or otherwise damage lawns.